


Paths of Adversity

by ao_no_senshi



Series: Forks in the Road [1]
Category: Chouseishin Gransazer | Super Star God Gransazer
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-01
Updated: 2010-04-01
Packaged: 2017-10-27 00:31:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/289594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ao_no_senshi/pseuds/ao_no_senshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Wind Tribe is scattered and a new enemy has appeared against the Gransazers. It's up to the Water Tribe to track down the divided Wind Tribe; unfortunately for Makoto, his target doesn't want to be found.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paths of Adversity

Makoto scanned the crowd restlessly. How was he supposed to find anyone in this crush? Tokyo streets could be busy at the best of times but this was ridiculous. He could feel the presence of another Gransazer around here somewhere, he just couldn't pin it down and his urgency was steadily mounting. He hoped it was one of the Wind Tribe and not one of the Gransazers he'd already met, because so far all the leads he'd followed to track them down had come to nothing. He knew very little about the Wind Tribe, save what he'd heard from the Flame and Earth Tribes, and what he'd heard was mixed at best: that the Wind Tribe were ruthless enemies; that the Wind Tribe were good people who had simply been manipulated into fighting on the wrong side. Makoto suspected that the truth lay somewhere in between the two.

He didn't know what exactly had happened to the Wind Tribe, what had caused them to scatter, but Tenma had strongly implied that it had been bad. However bad it had been, though, was irrelevant now: the Wind Tribe was needed to fight the Impactors, much as it galled him to admit the Water Tribe needed help, especially from people as irresponsible as the Flame and Earth Tribes and possibly corrupted people like the Wind Tribe. But there was no other option: if the Gransazers were to have any chance of defeating the Impactors they needed to be whole and with the Wind Tribe scattered they weren't.

As Makoto's gaze drifted over the crowd once more his attention was caught by a man frozen by a shop window. Gone was the brown hair with blond streaks from the photograph Makoto was carrying, replaced with natural black hair, but he recognised the stranger nonetheless: Hakariya Jin, better known as Sazer Dail. Hakariya might not know who he was, Makoto thought, working his way through the press of people, but he definitely knew _what_ he was and, much to Makoto's frustration, he wasn't waiting around to chat.

"Damn it," he hissed under his breath, elbowing his way past people, relieved that he didn't have his camera with him to get damaged. By the time he reached the place Hakariya had been standing the man was gone. His best lead and it had slipped out of his hands. He punched the wall in frustration, grazing his knuckles in the process. Hakariya would be even more careful now, knowing he was after him.

A sudden cacophany of screams from somewhere ahead jerked his head up, prompting him to once again force his way through a crowd. Only one thing could be causing such panic and that was the Impactors; if they weren't here for him, they were here for someone else: Hakariya Jin, who would have no idea what he was up against. Finally breaking past the fleeing people Makoto broke into a run until he came to a food court with overturned tables and chairs all over the plaza, with two figures caught in a stand-off.

"Radia," he muttered under his breath, skidding to a halt. So he hadn't been destroyed after all, damn him. What would it take? Was Lucia around somewhere? What about Logia, where was he? If Radia had found Hakariya did that mean the other two had located the rest of the Wind Tribe? Makoto shook off the questions: he couldn't afford to focus on them now; all that mattered was seeing how Hakariya reacted to this, to find out if the man deserved to be called a Gransazer.

For a moment it seemed as if Hakariya had frozen in place, his eyes wide with surprise. He was in a wary stance but Makoto couldn't tell if he was braced for a fight or ready to run. Whether the indecision was real or simply a product of Makoto's imagination, his questions over how Hakariya would react were answered when the man shook off his hesitation, his hands moving in what had to be the Wind Tribe's Equip sequence and when the 'Equip' command rang out, strong and determined, Makoto nodded to himself. Whatever else Hakariya Jin might be, a coward wasn't one of them and he was worth helping.

His Knuckle Riser formed on the back of his left hand and his own Equip was the work of a moment. "Radia!" he shouted, throwing himself into the battle as Hakariya slashed at the Impactor with his bladed tonfa. "You're fighting me!"

"Gorbion!" Radia bellowed back. "Fine with me; I'll destroy you both. We'll see if the mighty Logia can beat that."

"Obsessed much?" was the quiet murmur from behind him, but Makoto couldn't be sure who Hakariya was referring to, himself or Radia and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know.

The fight seemed to last forever, Radia resisting both sword and tonfa until a combination of Makoto's Death Storm and Hakariya's Whirlwind Strike sent him packing, licking his wounds to fight another day.

Makoto let his Equip go, turning to where Hakariya was doing likewise, his arms folded, his expression still wary.

"Why do I get the feeling that was a grudge match?" Hakariya wanted to know, not making any move to get closer although he didn't back away when Makoto took a few steps forward.

"It was, in a way," Makoto admitted. "Radia tried to destroy Leviathan."

"Your Ultra Star God?" Hakariya asked in surprise and Makoto nodded.

"He wanted to destroy it before the Water Tribe had fully woken. He failed but we haven't forgotten."

Hakariya nodded slowly, his eyes narrowed in thought. "Alright, I get that. What I don't understand is why you were looking for me."

Makoto sighed and wondered if Hakariya was really that dense. "Why do you think?" he demanded. "There are another two Impactors, just like Radia. We need you, all of you."

Hakariya tensed automatically and this time he did put space between them. "Did Karin send you?" he asked and there was no doubt this time that Hakariya was definitely bracing for a fight. "Because I'm not going back."

"Saeki Karin is gone," Makoto replied, not responding to the Knuckle Riser forming on Hakariya's hand. If he was going to get Hakariya to come back with him he would have to convince the man he wasn't his enemy. "She was beaten by the Earth and Flame Tribes, although it did take Garuda and GunCeaser to do it."

"The Ultra Star Gods?" Jin demanded incredulously. "Wasn't that overkill?"

"Considering she was the size of the Ultra Star Gods at the time, I don't think so," Makoto replied dryly.

"Karin couldn't do that," Hakariya protested. "Not even she had that kind of power, even if she--"

Hakariya broke off and Makoto felt himself go cold all over. "You knew what she was," he said softly. "You knew all along."

"No," Hakariya replied, slumping slightly. "We didn't. We only found out at the end when she--" He stopped abruptly and Makoto had the distinct impression he wasn't going to get the story out of Hakariya today.

"Come back with me," he said instead, holding out a hand. "Come back to the Professor's office and we can explain everything."

Hakariya laughed, harsh and brittle and it was a sound Makoto had heard from too many soldiers burned out on war. "Right. I'm sure the Flame Tribe will be so forgiving."

"The Flame Tribe were the first to suggest looking for you," Makoto retorted. "They believe in you, no matter what might have happened with the Akelon. They're not holding a grudge on this one, they just want the Gransazers all working together."

"No," Hakariya said, shaking his head. "I'm not getting back into that again. I learned my lesson with Karin."

"You fought Radia just now."

"Self-defence," Hakariya snapped. "He came after me, not the other way around."

"They'll just keep coming," Makoto told him, his arm falling back to his side. "The Impactors want the Gransazers wiped out, you think they're going to ignore the Wind Tribe just because you don't want any part of the fight anymore? What kind of Gransazer would let that happen?"

"No kind of Gransazer!" Hakariya shouted back, the tense mask gone, his voice cracking. "And no Gransazer would let themselves be manipulated into fighting for the people who want to destroy the planet! You don't need me, whatever Tarious told you. You shouldn't be trying to recruit me, you should hate me."

And that was it, Makoto thought numbly. That was the reason Hakariya was so against returning; not because he was afraid but because his guilt was crippling. "We do need you," he said softly. "Tenma's an idiot most of the time but he's right about this. We need you. We need the Wind Tribe, we need Dorcrus and we need _you_." Hakariya didn't seem convinced, however, and Makoto didn't know what else he could say.

"So you screwed up," was what he came up with. "So you trusted the wrong person. Big deal. It happens all the time."

Hakariya stared at him, stunned by either the blunt words or utter lack of sympathy, but Makoto wasn't in the mood to indulge anyone's self-pity, especially when they were needed so badly. He did note, however, that Hakariya's Knuckle Riser had faded again, which he took to be a good sign.

"So maybe you made some mistakes," he continued relentlessly. "How else do you plan on fixing them if not by fighting with us? Are you going to run for the rest of your life?" Hakariya couldn't meet his eyes anymore and Makoto had the distinct impression that was exactly what he'd been planning to do. "You can't run forever," he finished. "And we need you."

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Hakariya sighed, scratching at the back of his head. "Even if I say no you'll just come after me again."

"Until you agree to come back," Makoto nodded. "I'm pretty stubborn."

Hakariya raised an eyebrow at him, his mouth quirking up into a faint smile. "So I see." He sighed again, then shoved his hands into his pockets. "Fine, I'll come back. No promises I'm going to be any help, though."

Makoto gave him a quick smile. "Don't be so sure," he replied. "That Whirlwind Strike packs a punch."

"It's pretty amazing, yeah," Hakariya agreed, echoes of the cocky guy Tenma had described shining though until Hakariya realised he was letting his guard down too much and tensed up again.

Well, hopefully they'd have plenty of time to get past that, Makoto thought to himself. He thought he'd like to get to know who Hakariya Jin was under all that guilt.


End file.
